[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bronies_doc_logo2_5355.jpg]]''Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony'' is a documentary film produced by Michael Brockhoff, and starring, among others, Creator/JohnDeLancie, Creator/LaurenFaust and Creator/TaraStrong about [[PeripheryDemographic the adult fans]] of the animated show ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.

The work originally began as a mid-2012 Kickstarter crowd-sourced project to create a documentary around the Summer 2012 [=BronyCon=] convention held in the New York area. At the time, the work [[WorkingTitle was to be titled]] ''[=BronyCon=]: The Documentary'' and had enlisted de Lancie as executive producer along with Brockhoff. De Lancie had come onto the fandom as a result of voicing the character Discord for [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 both]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 parts]] of the episode "The Return of Harmony". The character of Discord was purposely written by Faust (and M.A. Larson) as a homage to de Lancie's character of Q from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''; initially writing his role off as a one time thing, he was surprised by the sudden influx of appreciation mail from the brony fandom, and [[NotSoDifferent would later compare this]] to the way the initial ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fandom grew, and desired to explore it more.

The Kickstarter completed with more than four times the original funding requested. This allowed for an expansion of the project, including:

* Bringing aboard Faust (the creative forerunner of the series) and Strong (voice actress for the main character, Twilight Sparkle) as additional executive producers.* Allowing the filmmakers to travel to European conventions (Galacon and BUCK), and to travel to include stories from individual bronies.

To reflect these changes, the film name was changed to ''Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony''.

The film was released to the Kickstarter backers on January 19, 2013, with digital and print versions following soon after. The producers plan to release the film to streaming sites like Netflix and iTunes, and are looking to show the film at various film festivals during 2013.

The documentary itself comprises a mix of footage from the various conventions and individual bronies, interviews with de Lancie, Faust, Strong and others involved in the creative development of the show, and original animations done in the style of ''Friendship is Magic'', outlining the growth and activities of the fandom.

Digital version can be purchased [[http://www.scrnland.com/p/bd/ here]], or complete four disc blu-ray/DVD combo with extended interviews [[http://www.amazon.com/Bronies-Extremely-Unexpected-Complete-Edition/dp/0988849631/ref=cm_rdp_product here]], the vanilla edition blu-ray/dvd combo [[http://www.amazon.com/Bronies-Extremely-Unexpected-Little-Edition/dp/0988849607/ref=tmm_blu_title_0 here]], or just the extended interviews [[http://www.amazon.com/Bronies-Extremely-Unexpected-Extended-Interviews/dp/0988849623/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1363740868&sr=1-3&keywords=brony+documentary here.]]----!!This film provides examples of:* AmusingInjuries: See SlapstickKnowsNoGender. AmusingInjuries were {{discussed|Trope}} in this film about how they were {{enforced|trope}} in the show itself.* ArtifactTitle: Inverted, the documentary was originally just called "Bronycon: The Documentary" before having its name changed to appeal to a wider audience. Still, Bronycon still seems to be the subject matter of the documentary as nearly all the individual fans are going to the con as well as featuring numerous interview with convention guests. * TheCameo: It wouldn't be a film about bronies without Derpy appearing in it within the various animation blocks.* ClosingCredits: Of note, these are at least 10 minutes long to provide thanks for each person that contributed in the Kickstarter.* {{Cosplay}}: Participants of the con dressed as their favorite characters are briefly discussed. Specifically, there is one couple interviewed who are dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Cake (they even have plushies of the twins!). While they're explaining their costumes to the cameraman, de Lancie suddenly appears, compliments them on their costumes, and continues on his way. The male fan is left visibly starstruck, and the female fan happily [[{{Squee}} squeals]] "That was John de Lancie!"* CreatorCameo: Pony versions of de Lancie, Faust (aka "Fausticorn") and Strong appear in the animations. Among other ponies, the character of Wild Fire, the creator avatar of the show's storyboard artist Sabrina "Sisby" Alberghetti, is shown in the songs.* DisproportionateRetribution: Alex, one of the Bronies featured throughout the film, recounts an incident where a group of thugs from his town smashed up his car and pointed a gun at his face. Why? Because Alex had ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' decals in his car windows.* FunnyBackgroundEvent: In the first animation section, when de Lancie discusses the 3rd generation - the one that stuns the ponies watching him, one even turns to stone.* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Within the animations, de Lancie mentions, among other activities made by the fandom, "clop"[[labelnote:explanation]]The fandom's term for adult, sexual material[[/labelnote]], pauses, blushes and moves on, quickly.** Another that coincides with VisualPun and StealthPun, one of de Lancie's lines mentions Generation 1's "plots were hardly very weighty", showing Gen 1 toys from behind.[[labelnote:explanation]]After [[http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/158/605/129902783169-dat_plot.jpg this]] memetic picture, "plot" became synonymous with rear half for bronies.[[/labelnote]]* NightmareFace: Near the end of the third animated short, de Lancie's eyes [[spoiler:briefly turn into Discord's.]]-->'''Anypony ''else'' I missed? ''(twitch)'''''* ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle: After the change from the WorkingTitle.* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: DiscussedTrope.--> '''Creator/LaurenFaust:''' What I kinda had to push for in the beginning was making it funny. That was actually really hard, 'cause like even my crew, even the other artists, jumped to this conclusion that it had to be really soft. And I was like, "No, it's funny that that character tripped and fell. Make her hit her face really hard, you know? That's funny!"* StylisticSuck: The first animation uses sepia and film grain effects to review the past generations of the franchise.* WellDoneSonGuy: Brony Lyle's main goal throughout the movie is to get his dad (and to a lesser extent, his mom) to accept that he likes My Little Pony. In the end, Lyle's parents go with him to [=BronyCon=] [[spoiler: and his dad even agrees to give the show a chance]].----